On reflection …

Hello my friends

I hope you are well and all had a good summer.

I know, it has been a while since I last appeared on here. I seem to have had a large dose of bloggers block! Largely due to the fact that there is so much happening in the world, that writing about elements of happiness hasn’t felt quite right somehow, which has led to keeping me in a very quiet space.

As with all things, once we create a story for why we are, or aren’t doing something, the expansion element in our mind is endless. Having personally gone through all the reasons not to blog with my inner critic, for the last 9 months, yes 9 months, I think now more than ever, it is time to keep this space as realistically pretty as possible.

Over the coming months I hope to share some of my news and views with you, starting right here with some beautiful views of the south side of the island, taken from Bonchurch and Ventnor of the sea and sky at the Autumn Equinox, a time for renewal.

It is on rare mornings like these, when I take myself and my camera out, that I can live in the moment. I can be truly grateful and appreciate all that is on my doorstep. Making time for these mindful moments is a good wellbeing fix and makes the sleepless night and thoughts that went along with it gently slip away.

So as I pitter patter into my first blog for a while.

We have just had the Autumn equinox, another call to write and the pull to try something new is calling and so is that evening snuggle. Flip-flops have once again been replaced by boots. The summer for me was based on trying to live in alignment with all that is nurturing. Although I still find it hard to give myself permission to do “my” things. I am gradually learning through various mediums of wellbeing and creativity, that it is okay to just be me and to go with my flow. It’s all about balance. I am also very lucky to be surrounded by such a creative community.

The summer of 2022 was spent in many beautiful spaces, as you can see in my galleries.

We enjoyed a stay in a ‘tiny home’ which was the best fun! If you fancy a little bit of off grid time in a kind to the environment zone, this is so for you. I was in my absolute element as I have always loved staying in eclectic style accommodation. At tiny homes, every detail has been considered, we arrived to home made cake and a big pile of logs and loads of snuggly throws. We woke to a sunshine filled meadow of wild flowers. It was the perfect place to take life at a lovely slow pace and to read or even write a book! Most of all it was a place to just step back from everything and just be present.

We also took the opportunity to enjoy some arts and music festivals locally on the Island. All can be found on www.visitisleofwight.co.uk

Along with this, I have participated in some creative and wellbeing courses, which I hope to share with you in future blogs. The biggest learn for me this Summer has been to do what calls to your heart. I now try to swap scrolling time for drawing time. See below! For me it is no longer about creating a work of art, it’s about focusing on something creative to give my mind a rest from the whirling thoughts and I also prefer that my phone tells me that my phone scrolling time is down this week!

So, as the season changes and on the island calms, it is a good time to curl up with a good book!

My read of the summer was definitely - Where The Crawdads Sing by Delia Owens. The story will probably stay with me for a very long time.

My other discovery was Draw Yourself Calm by Amy Maricle. I participated in her on-line art challenge. This called to me because I prefer pens to brushes.

So that was some of my news, and on reflection, once I decided on the images I was going to use for this blog, it made it just a little bit easier for my fingers to start tapping the keyboard.

I have of course been backed up by some wonderful creatives in my life who have shared some kind words and given me the faith I needed to start writing again. For this I am extremely grateful. As always it is the small steps that matter, because who knows where they may lead.

Thank you for reading. I look forward to sharing other news and views with you in my next blog.
In the meantime, as always, stay safe. Do what makes your soul happy.

Jules xx